Friday, September 19, 2014

Hello! The weekend is almost upon us....Are we all dreaming of some scrap-time?

I know I am....I spend all week daydreaming of colors, photos, paints.....

I was asked by the lovely girls at a brand new Russian blog called Evolution-Scrap to be a Guest Designer as part of their very first challenge called 'My Personal Style'. They wanted me to create something that really shows my favourite style and techniques so I printed another beautiful black and white photo and let my imagination go....

'52'

I used some of my favourite papers from 7 Dots Studio, a new Prima stencil, some Finnabair glass beads, and some chipboard from Blue Fern Studios to create a backdrop for my photo by Lewis Carroll of the Liddell sisters, Lorina, Edith and Alice.

Some of you may have noticed that I am in love with a lot of Russian scrappers...There are some that scrap in such a unique way, very light and ethereal, and others that have 'old-world' style that I really admire with lots of rich textures, ribbons, laces, pieces of twine, twigs, doilies, flowers, all wrapped up together and styled so beautifully. Although Google translation can be tricky (or downright hilarious) I found reading what the girls at Evolution-Scrap had to say about their new blog to be so creative and enthusiastic, and really shows how passionate they are about creating a place to inspire others and to share our 'art'.

We would love to hear your stories and journalling about your projects too, so please be sure to share that with us too! ;-)

I saw this image on Pinterest too and thought I must share it! ;-)

I found these vintage photos on line here, and I was totally fascinated. They are photos of people being booked for committing a crime.....Who are these women? What brought them to be arrested? The stories they could tell......

I chose this lady named May Russell, but there are so many photographs in this collection that are just captivating to look at. Even in their sad disheveled state, these women are beautiful.

I used some gorgeous vintage papers from Prima's Time Traveler collection together with some bits of an old magazine from my stash, love the effect that vintage ephemera gives my layouts. I love my designs to look like old tattered and worn pages from an old diary with lots of textures and paints.

I also used some Prima flowers, Prima metal trinkets and some Blue Fern Studios

chipboard pieces (the key and keyhole) that I painted white and gold.

Thanks so much for taking a look, and I hope you have found a little inspiration

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

We are in the middle of a heat wave and the muggy heat is making me long for autumn.....

Soon enough I suppose....but I love it when the air is crisp and cool...

So today is exciting, the lovely ladies over at Paperdvizhnik have invited me to be this month's Guest Designer. What an honor as I am always in awe of the gorgeous work on their blog. Their sketches and challenges never fail to spark an idea in my head!

'tell your story'

So one of my favourite artists of late is Rulya, you can find her blog here. She creates a lot of the sketches on Paperdvizhnik and I adore her style. I tend to lean to the 'more is more' philosophy...(just one more flower, one more splash of ink! lol) where Irina seems to me of the 'less is more' mind set. There are fewer design elements on her layouts, but they are so well done, and so powerful in their simplicity, that they are always stunning.

Here is one of her layouts that I think is just all kinds of beautiful.....

I wanted to keep my layout simple and fresh and not too busy, but keep some of the

vintage touches that I love so much.

The challenge is to use this color palette......

My take is to use a much softer color scheme. I used some Lindy's Stamp Gang mists and some Blue Fern Studios chipboard that I altered a bit with crackling medium, mist and gold paint.

It's always fun to try to step outside your own 'box' and be inspired by another artist that you love.....

I hope you find a little inspiration here today to try something different....;)

Friday, September 5, 2014

I wanted to share my layout I created for the Scrap the Boys September challenge....

'Sweet'

The challenge this month is to scrap our boys with a 'Domesticated' theme...cooking, cleaning, in the kitchen etc. I went digging through some photo albums and found these photos of Liam making cookies...so...sweet!

You can find the more info about the challenge here...please check out all the wonderful design team work, there are so many talented ladies on the team, each with their own unique style. And there are some great prizes to be won!

Here are a few close ups...

After I had printed these photos I saw they were so dark I was really stuck as to which direction to go with them. The very next day I received a beautiful box from Prima, the monthly kit they are offering and I was so happy to see it was jam-packed full of gorgeous papers and embellies, what an incredible bargain! I highly recommend it. This month's kit it was full of Engraver and Printery, two of my favourites. So as soon as I saw this gorgeous Engraver paper with all the lovely words that fit my photos, I knew what to do! The paper is so bold, the only way to go is to get messy!

I used some Blue Fern Studios chipboard called 'Heart Panel' that I embossed in copper, and also used one called 'Sweet Dreams' that I painted white. All the gorgeous Prima flowers came from the 'Special Delivery' box which I thought all the rich browns and creams kind of reminded me of chocolate? I love to bake with my little boy ;)

So thanks for looking, you have until the end of this month to enter...

Monday, September 1, 2014

Blue Fern Studios! So this time I got out my set of gelatos and started playing

with the colors and just can't believe how bright and pretty they are.

The pinks remind me of cotton candy, so light and sweet ;)

I started with a piece of paper called 'Shannon's Dream', created my background, and then added some pieces of the 'Roman Clock Set' and also 'Circle Flourish' that I painted with my gelatos to match my background.

Here is the sketch for September...

Please visit the Blue Fern Studios blog here for more info on the challenge.

About Me

About me

Hello! My name is Lisa and this is my little space to share what I create. I love combining vintage ephemera and my favorite old family photos to create layouts and preserve memories. I am so happy you stopped by! You can find me at lisagriff9@gmail.com Hugs, Lisa

"There is no use trying," said Alice; "one can't get believe impossible things." "I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." Lewis Carroll